Sulphate 01 Ammonia 

Its Source, Production 

and Use 

T 










£6><FS 



Class 

Book -Q cJ 



Copyright N°_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Sulphate of Ammonia 

Its Source, Production and Use 



1916 Year-book, United States 
Department of Agriculture: 

There is no question of the general value of commercial ferti- 
lizers in farm practise. The farmer ivho wisely and systemat- 
ically applies commercial fertilizer to his fields will raise larger 
and better crops than his neighbor who, with similar conditions 
of soil, climate, and rotations, and equal industry applied to 
cultivation, does not use fertilizers. This statement applies with 
the same force to the rich soils of the Mississippi Valley as to the 
soils of the Eastern Cotton States or of New England." 



Issued by 

The /&tf££&vC Company 
New York, N. Y. 

Number 84 




Sulphate of Ammonia 

Its Source, Production and Use 



>0R nearly a half century sulphate of ammonia has been 
extensively used to supply nitrogen to agriculture. It has 
become well and favorably known in all parts of the 
world where fertilization is a factor in the growth of crops. 
Because of its merits as a plant-food and as an ingredient 
in mixtures, and also because of its relation to other industrial pro- 
cesses, it has become one of the great nitrogen-carriers of the world. 

Nitrogen and Other Plant-Foods 

There are three substances that agricultural chemistry teaches us 
to regard as the principal plant-foods, namely, nitrogen, phosphoric 
acid and potash. These are also the elements that artificial fertiliza- 
tion is usually called upon to supply. Of these, nitrogen is the one 
that is almost invariably the most needed, and it is by far the most 
expensive. A pound of combined nitrogen — i. e., nitrogen that is so 
combined with other substances as to be readily available for plant- 
food — costs in normal times from three to five times as much as a 
pound of phosphoric acid or of potash. 

The Demand for Nitrogen 

To appreciate what this means from a commercial point of view 
we need only remember that no remote Pacific islet is too far away to 
be rifled of its stores of guano, and that the nitrate deposits on the 
uninviting and distant coast of Chile were not too far off for exploita- 
tion by European capital. 

Fleets of steamers are devoted to no other purpose than seining fish 
by the million to make them into fertilizers, and the unwieldy whale, 
formerly abandoned at sea when stripped of his bone and blubber, 
is now towed to the factory to make whale-guano. The cotton crop 
of the South and the abattoir industries of the Middle-Western 
States are eagerly levied on for cottonseed meal, tankage and dried 
blood, though these products have uses of a higher order. The waste 
from our kitchens and hotels is made into garbage-tankage, and we 

2 ©CI.A477705 



Copyright, 1917 by The Barren Company f^Q ty 'Z)A j I 7 



APPROXIMATE AMOUNTS OF PLANT FOOD REMOVED 

FROM THE SOIL BY MAXIMUM CROPS 
IRS 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 LBS 



CORN 100 BUS. 



i \ 



E3 



COTTON 2 BALES 

j i H NITROGEN 

■l PHOSPHORUS 
3 , . A ! i D POTASSIUM 

OATS lOO BUS. 



f •'!■.■■•'.■ '-.'>] 



WHEAT so BUS. 



l.v:--".-:'-----M 



TIMOTHY 3 TONS 



EM 



POTATOES 3Q0 BUS. 



FFT^ 



TOBACCO looo LBS. 



£13 



SUGAR BEETS 20 TONS 



SUGAR CANE -PER TON SUGAR 



m 



RICE loo BUS 



^•■■■-i 



have reached out to Asia for her soy-bean meal as well. Even the 
nitrogen of the air we breathe, physically near enough but chemically 
inaccessible as plant-food except to the legumes, has for years been 
the object of laborious and costly scientific experimentation, and is 
now gradually being made available. 

When we consider the scope of the demand for agriculturally 
available nitrogen, we may well be surprised that the stores of it 
that are obtainable from bituminous coal in the form of sulphate of 
ammonia have not been thoroughly utilized. This surprise is the 
more justifiable since the material lies close at hand and the process 
of recovery is one that has long been well known and approved in 
chemical manufacture. As a matter of fact, the vast stores of nitrogen 
laid up for us underground by the marvelous plant-life of the Coal 
Age have hardly been touched at all. 

Historical 

That it was possible to obtain available nitrogen in the form of 
ammonia from various organic substances was commonly known to 
medieval chemistry. This is indicated by the name "spirits of hart- 
shorn" formerly applied to ammonia, due to its derivation from 
horns, bones, etc. As regards the derivation of nitrogen from coal 
in particular, Stauf, the German Kohlenphilosoph, is reported to 
have collected a cake of sal ammoniac from his crude coking-pits in 
the year 1771. 

The actual production of ammonia in any quantity, however, unques- 
tionably did not take place until some time after the discovery of 
coal-gas lighting by Murdoch in 1798, and it is certain that during 
the earlier years of the coal-gas industry the ammoniacal liquors were 
regarded simply as waste products whose disposal was a troublesome 
problem. 

In 1842 the prize essay of Dr. George Fownes* mentioned the use 
of ammoniacal liquor from the gas-works as a manure for corn, re- 
marking that the best use for this product would probably be found 
when it was reduced to a crude ammonium salt, as the chloride or 
sulphate, and scattered in the fields in small amounts. He suggested 
what the development of this comparatively untried nitrogenous fer- 
tilizer would be should its promised agricultural efficiency be realized, 
and laid much stress upon the economical advantages the farmers of 
England would gain from the presence of so vast a store of available 
nitrogen in their own country. 

*Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society. IV.. 498 

4 



Present Conditions 

As far as it concerned the sulphate of ammonia, all that this 
prophet of the last century could have pictured to himself in his most 
optimistic moments has been more than realized. England alone 
now produces over four hundred thousand tons of sulphate of ammonia 
yearly, an amount many times larger than would have been produced 
by all the gas-works of Fownes' day had they been operated as he 
suggested, with due regard to the recovery of ammonia. The world's 
yearly production of ammonia from coal, reckoned as sulphate of 
ammonia, is now estimated as 1,500,000 tons, a large part of which is 
used in agriculture. 

The Origin of Coal 

Coal is the transformed residue of the vegetation of the Coal Age. 
From the chemical point of view it is organic matter, largely cellulose, 
that has undergone changes under the influence of heat and pressure 




Fig. 2— Forests of the Coal Age. The large trees, Lepidodendron, and 
the feathery tree-ferns, Cycadofilices, in the left and the middle back- 
ground are characteristic of the Coal Age flora. 



and to which mineral impurities have been added. This vegetation 
consisted of trees, ferns, grasses, etc., which died and underwent 
partial decay and were covered by further layers of similar material, or 
by layers of sediment, such as clay. The length of time and the vast 
extent of this growth may be appreciated from the statement that a 
beech forest one hundred years old would supply enough material to 
form a vein of coal but three-quarters of an inch in thickness. And 
yet coal-veins twenty or thirty feet thick are frequent and masses 
measuring two hundred and fifty feet have been recorded. 

We know but little of the conditions that prevailed on the earth's 
surface at that time. Possibly the heat of the sun and the rapidity 
of plant-growth exceeded by far our present tropical conditions. It 
has also been surmised that frequent electrical storms aided the 
fixation of nitrogen. 

From the study of the fossil remains found in the coal and from other 
geological data, it has been possible to reconstruct an ideal view of the 
Coal Age forests (Fig. 2), and also to picture their destruction by 
torrential storms, the flotsam and jetsam of which we probably see 
in some of our more extensive coal-beds today. 

The successive steps in coal formation may be said in a general 
way to be peat, lignite, sub-bituminous, bituminous, semi-anthracite 
and anthracite. These blend into one another in an almost unbroken 
line, ending at nearly pure carbon. Of these, bituminous (soft) coal 
is the chief source of ammonia.* 



Coal Resources and Production 

The possession of coal is one of the greatest national assets. The 
total resources of the world are estimated at 7,400,000 million tons, 
of which 4,000,000 million tons are bituminous. Of this, the United 
States is said to possess more than any other country, exceeding even 
the vast undeveloped areas of China. 

The world's production is given as 1,345 million tons in 1914, 
of which 38 per cent, was produced in the United States, 22 per 
cent, in Great Britain, and 20 per cent, in Germany. 



A certain amount of ammonia is recovered from blast-furnaces in Scotland which use ''splint" coal, 
and considerable is also obtained from coal and from peat treated in the recovery gas-producer. The 
use of such producers seems to be increasing. 




Fig. 3 — Flood Destroying Coal Age Forests. Coal fields are su 
to have originated from deposits of such debris. 



The Mining of Coal 

Coal is recovered from the earth by sinking shafts to the seam and 
mining the coal out in parallel rooms or galleries. This is done with 
the aid of coal-cutting machinery and explosives. The coal is hoisted 
to the surface, separated into sizes, and shipped. Fig. 4 is an ex- 
cellent view of a coal-seam. 



Nature and Composition of Coal 



Coal is principally carbon together with smaller amounts of 
hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and ash-forming elements. Bituminous 
coals, suitable for coking, usually contain from 0.8 per cent, to 1.5 
per cent, nitrogen, which may be recovered when, in the coking pro- 
cess, ammonia and other volatile gases are evolved. The quantity 
of nitrogen thus recovered in the form of ammonia is equal to about 
one-quarter of one per cent, of the total weight of the coal mined. 

7 




Fig. 4— A seam of Coal in a Coal Mine 

The Ammonia Recovered from Coal 

Assuming that ordinarily a four-foot vein of coal is about as thin 
as may be profitably worked, an acre would contain approximately 
7,200 net tons. Fig. 5 shows graphically the fertility contained in 
this mass, based upon the average one per cent, of nitrogen found in 
coal. Were this wholly recoverable, we should obtain seventy-two 
tons of nitrogen, but owing to unavoidable losses in the mining and 
coking operations a much smaller quantity is actually obtained (a). 
The sulphate equivalent of the nitrogen contained and the amount re- 
covered is shown in (b). At the rate of one hundred pounds per acre 
per year, the nitrogen contained in the acre of coal is sufficient to 
supply fertility in the form of sulphate of ammonia (c) to the acre 
of land overhead for 5,760 years. The amount recovered would last 
one-sixth as long — 960 years. 



Manufacture of Coke and By-Product 
Recovery 

Early in the history of the iron and steel industry raw coal was 
recognized as a fuel unsuited to blast-furnace requirements. Before 
the middle of the seventeenth century coke began to replace it, and 
today it is almost universally used in smelting operations. 

8 



Coke is made by carbonizing coal; that is to say, by reducing it 
to carbon as far as practicable. When bituminous coal is subjected 
to heat its complex organic compounds are broken up and a part of 
them pass off as gas. If the heating is done under the exclusion of 
air, it is known as destructive distillation. 

The gas and tar vapors are drawn off to the condensing apparatus, 
leaving behind the non- volatile or fixed carbon and the ash, which 
constitute the coke. Ordinarily the coke is silvery gray in color and 
has a cellular structure, the cell-wall i of which are exceedingly hard. 

Some coals, however, possess the coking property to a lesser degree 
than others, and make a soft friable coke, or even refuse to form 
lumps at all. The latter are called non-coking and are not used for 
coke-making. 

(See illustration of complete plant at top of pages 12 and 13.) 

FERTILITY IN COAL 
AN ACRE OF COAL 4 FEET THICK WEIGHS 7200 TONS 

NITROGEN CONTAINED • 72 TONS. (H RECOVERABLE) 
12 T. 
SULPHATE EQUIVALENT OF NITR. CONT'D.- 288 TONS, la RECOV'BLE) 48 i 



YEARS OF FERTILITY - 100 LBS. SULPHATE ANNUALLY 




Fig. 5 



The coking operation, in fact, consists in melting the coal into a 
viscous mass, entirely losing its original shape. The evolution of 
the gas gives it a porous structure, the cell-walls being composed of 
the fused carbon and ash constituents. 



Coking Methods 

There are three methods in which the destructive distillation of 
coal is practised on a large commercial scale in this country, namely: 

1. The beehive coke-oven, for coke alone, 
the by-products being lost. The combustion of 
the volatile part of the coal furnishes the heat 
needed for coking. 

2. The coal-gas retort, specially designed 
to supply illuminating-gas. Coke, ammonia, 
tar, etc., are recovered as by-products. 

3. The by-product coke-oven, primarily 
designed for producing metallurgical coke; 
yielding also ammonia, tar, illuminating-gas 
and other by-products. 

The beehive coke-oven is simple in construction and operation, but 
because of the waste it causes will ultimately be replaced by ovens 
of the recovery type. This transition is now going on. In 1916 there 
were 65,605 beehive ovens in operation, producing 35,500,000 net 
tons of coke, which was 65 per cent, of the total metallurgical coke 
made in the United States. 

A battery of horizontal coal-gas retorts is shown in Fig. 8. The 
capacity of this type of plant is suited to the gas consumption of the 
ordinary city, coke, ammonia, tar, etc., being recovered. The coke, 
however, is too soft for furnace or foundry use. The retorts carbonize 
from 400 to 600 pounds of coal in six hours and are usually heated 




Fig. 7— Beehive Coke-Ovens 

10 




Fig. 8— Coal-Gas Retorts 



with a part of their own coke. There are other types of retort, as 
the inclined and the vertical, that take charges of 1,200 to 1,500 pounds 
of coal, as well as chamber-retorts, which approximate the coke-oven 
in size and yield metallurgical coke. 

The by-product coke-ovens are usually erected in plants large 
enough to supply coke to one or more blast-furnaces, although a 
number of plants have been installed especially to supply the increas- 
ing demand for domestic and fuel coke and gas. Such units treat 
much more coal than the usual retort gas-plant, and produce more 
gas, ammonia, tar and other by-products. From 40 per cent, to 50 
per cent, of the gas made is consumed in heating the ovens, so the 
balance may be used for illuminating purposes. The ovens take 
charges of eight to twelve tons of coal at a time, and coke it in sixteen 
to twenty-four hours. 

The plants usually comprise from thirty to several hundred ovens, 
that at Gary, Indiana, having 560 ovens. The capacity of this plant 
is 10,000 tons of coal per day, which corresponds to an output of 
one hundred tons of sulphate of ammonia. In 1917 there were fifty- 
two operating by-product plants, having nearly 7,500 ovens. These 
produced about 22,500,000 tons of coke and recovered over 300,000 
tons of ammonia reckoned as sulphate, or 85 per cent, of the total 
ammonia production in the United States. 



HHI ,.. 



Tjiji iifi 



1DVEN CHAMBEB 







Fig. 6— Model of By-Product Coke-Oven Plant 

Recovery of Ammonia from Coal- Gas 

The gas given off from the coal during the coking operation con- 
sists of a mixture of hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, carbon 
dioxide and nitrogen, with vapors of water and tar. The latter exist 
partly as finely divided mist mechanically suspended in the moving 
gas. There are also present small quantities of ethylene, naphthalene, 
benzol and other hydrocarbons, together with the impurities, am- 
monia, sulphuretted hydrogen, carbon disulphide and cyanides. 




Fig. 9— By-Product Coke-Ovens, pusher side. Pusher and lorry shown, 
latter charging oven with coal. 




CONC. AMMONIA 
-J SHIPM'T. 



TAR SEPARATOR 



».x«d PUMPS 1 SULPHATE 
W tJ a STORAGE 



m 



•- , 



TAR 

STORAGE GAS 

STORAGE 




nithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 

The removal of the ammonia, in which we are particularly interested, 
has usually been accomplished by cooling the gas and washing it 
with water, in which the ammonia is easily absorbed, forming ammonia 
or gas liquor. This is similar in character, whether coming from 
coke-ovens or from gas-works, and is treated in the same way. It 
is a complex mixture, containing ammonia in various combinations. 
Some of them are classified as the volatile ammonia (ammonium 
carbonate, sulphide, hydro sulphide and cyanide) because the ammonia 
is given off on moderate heating. The others, as the sulphate, sulphite, 
thio-sulphate and chloride, are classed as the fixed ammonia, since 
they are not volatile at ordinary temperatures. 

The early method of making sulphate of ammonia from the gas 
liquor was by simply running enough sulphuric acid into it to neutralize 
the free ammonia, and evaporating until the salt crystallized out. 
This was a crude process and produced an impure salt of inferior 



... 


!"- 1 -' J M>~^ 


. ____^_' . 't i MS 


s> m. 


■ l:" i ! ™ 








T^s&z^^' Jm**" T- . 



Fig. 10— The Coke "Pusher," about to push coke from oven 
13 




Fig. 11— Coke being pushed from oven, 
opposite sides of same plant 



This and the preceding view are of 



grade. It was succeeded by the distillation process, in which steam 
is forced through the liquor, carrying off the ammonia with it, the 
fixed ammonia being freed by the addition of lime or other alkali. 
The mixture of ammonia and steam is then led into sulphuric acid, 
with which the ammonia unites to form the sulphate. The general 
arrangement of a two-still plant of simple type is shown in Fig. 12. 

The ammonia is driven off from the liquor by live steam in one of 
the two cast-iron columnar stills, as shown, and passes from the 
top of the still down to the saturating boxes, which are of wood lined 




Fig. 12 -Early type of Ammonia Plant 
14 



with lead. In them the ammonia gas is forced to bubble through the 
acid, and the salt which forms is then dipped out of the box with a 
long-handled copper ladle and drained on the board between the two 
saturators. A pile of salt is shown draining between the two boxes 
on the right. The sulphate is further dried by whirling in a centrifugal, 
and may then be bagged for shipment. 

Coke-oven plants of later construction have adopted a method of 
ammonia recovery in which the oven-gas passes directly into the 
sulphuric acid bath and is deprived of its ammonia. This is known as 
the direct method as distinguished from the older process, which is 
styled the indirect. There are several variations of the direct method, 
as put forth by different constructors, but one that is extensively 
used in this country is shown in Fig. 13. The gas from the ovens 
is partly cooled and passes through a tar-extractor, and then to the 
saturator containing the dilute sulphuric acid. A certain amount of 
gas liquor is obtained in the coolers, which is distilled and the ammonia 
passed into the saturator with the oven-gases. 

The quality of sulphate made by the direct or the indirect process 
is the same, both being marketed on the usual 25 per cent, guarantee 
basis. 

Sulphate of ammonia is usually packed for shipment in 200-pound 
bags, or in bulk carloads where convenient. 




Fig 13 — Ammonia Saturator in Modern By-Product Coke Plant. The 
gas passes through the reheaters at the right and then down pipes 2, 3, 
etc. to the saturators 

15 



RECOVERY OF SULPHATE OF AMMONIA 
AND OTHER PRODUCTS OF COAL DISTILLATION 



BITUMINOUS COAL 

1 

BY- PRODUCT COKE OVEN 



COKE 



T 
CRUDE GAS 



FURNACE 
FOUNDRY 



DOMESTIC 
& FUEL 



BREEZE- 
FINE COKE 



1 

COOLERS 



"~1 
COOLERS AND SCRUBBERS 



T 
SEPARATING TANKS 



GAS LIQUOR 
I 

STILL 



SATURATORS - SULPH. ACID 



CYANIDES 
BENZOL & 



GAS- 
ILLUMINATING 



SULPHATE OF AMMONIA liquor tar oven- heating 



Fig. 14— A net ton of coking-coal yields about 1,440 lbs. of coke, or 72 
per cent, by weight, together with 9 gallons of tar, 22 pounds of sul- 
phate of ammonia, 2 l A gallons of crude benzol, and 10,000 cubic feet of 
gas. Of the latter, about half is needed for heating the ovens so that 
the balance, 5,000 feet, is available for other purposes 

Descriptive of Sulphate of Ammonia 

When pure, sulphate of ammonia (NH 4 ) 2 S0 4 , is a white crystalline 
salt, soluble in twice its weight of water, and volatile — i. e., if heated 
slowly over a flame it will pass off leaving no residue. The American- 
made salt contains 25 per cent, ammonia (NH 8 ), or 20.56 per cent, 
nitrogen, and is therefore the richest of the commercial 
nitrogenous materials. This test corresponds to 96.97 per cent, pure 
sulphate of ammonia, and is a high degree of purity for a commercial 
article produced and sold by the carload. This standard is bettered 
by the recently introduced dried-and-ground grade, which is guaranteed 
to analyze 25.25 per cent, ammonia, equivalent to 20.75 per cent, 
nitrogen. The color varies slightly, being generally gray. Sulphate 
does not readily absorb moisture from the air, therefore it can safely 
be stored for indefinite periods without loss of strength. Upon appli- 
cation, its plant-food is quickly made available to the growing crop. 
Ordinarily ten or twelve days are sufficient for the formation of nitrate 



A cubic foot of sulphate ot ammonia weighs approximately 53 pounds, enough 
ordinarily to fertilize one-half acre. A bushel (\ x /i cubic feet) weighs 6632 pounds 
and contains 16% pounds of ammonia (13J^ pounds nitrogen). This quantity of 
sulphate completely dissolves in about nine gallons cold water or in half that 
amount of boiling water. The molecular weight corresponding to the formula 
(NH 4 ) 2 S0 4 is 132.14; specific gravity 1.77. 



16 



nitrogen in the soil, depending somewhat upon weather and soil con- 
ditions. The healthy, dark-green color of the leaves is sure evidence 
that this change has occurred. Commercial sulphate usually con- 
tains from 1 to 2 per cent, of moisture. 

The World-Wide Importance of Sulphate 
of Ammonia 

Sulphate of Ammonia is produced by a majority of the civilized 
nations of the world, depending to a certain extent on their supply 
of coal. As regards consumption, it may be said that farmers all over 
the world have found sulphate of ammonia beneficial in the growing of 
their crops. Not only in the countries of Europe and in the United 
States, but also in many parts of Asia, Africa and Australia there is 
an increasing demand. Large quantities are used for growing rice 
in Japan, sugar in British Guiana, the Dutch East Indies, Cuba, and 
Hawaii, and for raising cotton in India and Egypt. 




COMPARATIVE SULPHATE OF AMMONIA PRODUCTION 

FROM LATEST OFFICIAL STATISTICS 



The Action of Sulphate of Ammonia 
in the Soil 

1. Fixation of Ammonia in the soil. 

Nitrogen to be available for plants must be present in the nitrate 
form. Experiments have been carried on, however, which indicate 
that some plants under proper conditions utilize ammonia nitrogen 
without further change in its nature. While this may be accepted as 
a fact, it must be recognized that the actual amount so used is small 
and that the value of ammonia as a plant-food for the usual field 
crops practically depends on its nitrification in the soil. The changes 
which the ammonia in the sulphate undergoes seem to be dual in 
character — i. e., physical and chemical. The question as to whether 

17 



the ammonia is physically absorbed, the sulphuric acid thus freed 
reacting with the calcium, or whether double decomposition occurs 
between the sulphate and certain soil compounds, as calcium carbon- 
ate, has yet to be clearly defined. Indications are that a combination 
of both takes place. 

Ordinarily, the first change to occur in a soil fertilized with sulphate 
of ammonia is the absorption of ammonia by various humous com- 
pounds, such as the silicates of aluminum, calcium and sodium and 
the hydrated oxid of iron, and the liberation of sulphuric acid. 
More ammonia is released by the subsequent reaction between the 
remaining sulphate of ammonia and calcium carbonate, one of the 
most important and abundant of soil substances. This ammonia also 
enters into combination with the humous compounds, the decompo- 
sition process going forward until all the ammonia in the sulphate 
is combined or until the supply of reacting compounds fails. Small 
quantities of calcium sulphate are also formed as a product of these 
changes, the chemical nature of which is indicated by the formula: 
CaC0 3 + (NH 4 ),S0 4 =CaS0 4 + (NH 4 ) 2 C0 3 . 

2. Nitrification: Formation of nitrates under bacterial 
activity. 

The oxidation of the combined ammonia proceeds rapidly in most 
soils under ordinary conditions. There is a. theoretical middle 
step in the formation of nitrates from ammonia, namely, nitrite 
nitrogen. The changes to the nitrite and nitrate forms are effected by 
distinct types of soil bacteria, but usually take place so quickly that 
the former stage does not seem to appear. Small quantities of nitrous 
acid produced during these changes are absorbed by the calcium 
carbonate not already concerned in breaking down the sulphate 
compound. 

The Maintenance of Healthy 
Soil Conditions 

It is necessary that there be sufficient quantities of calcium car- 
bonate in the soil to decompose the sulphate and to absorb the nitrous 
acid produced during the oxidation of the fixed ammonia. The break- 





COMPARATIVE CONSUMPTION OF FERTILIZERS 

PER ACRE OF CULTIVATED LAND 



COKE OVENS 
OTHER SOURCES 
j NET IMPORTS 




POSSIBLE YEARLY RECOVERY FROM COAL NOiv CARBONIZED 



Fig. 15 — U. S. Productions, Imports and Consumption of Sulphate of 
Ammonia 

ing down of lime compounds and the formation of calcium sulphate 
which, under some conditions, readily leaches from the soil, probably 
tend to reduce the supply of calcium. In soils of an alkaline nature, 
as those of California, these changes often prove beneficial inasmuch 
as an unhealthy tendency is thereby checked. 

The Use of Sulphate of Ammonia 
in Mixed Fertilizers 

By far the largest portion of the sulphate of ammonia that is used 
by the farmer in this country comes to him in the form of mixed 
fertilizers. There are several reasons for this. In the first place, 
the manufacturer has been prompt to see the economy to him in the 
high nitrogen test, as it saves money in freight and in handling. The 
high test also enables him to utilize lower-grade nitrogenous materials 
that are useful as conditioners and at the same time maintain his 
regular formulas. 

Moreover, sulphate of ammonia mixes well with all the other fertilizer 
ingredients commonly in use, viz. : acid phosphate, the potash salts, 
cottonseed meal, tankage, fish-scrap, etc., and is not subject to loss 
by chemical action when so mixed. It is highly important that a 



fertilizer once properly mixed shall remain so until used, so that it 
may pass the State Inspection analysis, and that it shall later on 
reach the farmer in fine, dry, drillable condition. Good mechanical 
condition is in fact essential, since it saves time in spreading and 
enables each plant to be supplied with its proper share of food. This 
point is duly appreciated by the manufacturer and the farmer, but 
has not always been given due weight in Experiment Station rec- 
ommendations. A deficiency in analysis may be overcome by using 
more fertilizer, but a caked mixture practically cannot be used at all. 
The manufacturer has learned by experience that sulphate of am- 
monia has a distinct advantage in these respects, and in due course 
this advantage is transmitted to the fertilizer consumer either in 
quality or in price. 

Sulphate of Ammonia as a Separate Application 
or Top-Dressing 

When a nitrogenous material alone is required, sulphate of ammonia 
may be applied by itself with good results. For this purpose the dried 
and ground sulphate is especially adapted, as it is in excellent mechan- 
ical condition and may be easily and evenly spread by any fertilizer 
distributer or by hand. 

Such separate applications or top-dressings are often recommended 
in early spring for timothy and grass crops, and also for fall-planted 




Fig. 17 — Applying Sulphate of Ammonia in Grain-Drill 

20 



grain, particularly when the latter receive a mineral fertilizer low in 
nitrogen at time of planting. This method of fertilizing is one that 
is widely advocated in Europe and can profitably be followed here. 
In the Southern States it is quite customary to apply some soluble 
quick-acting nitrogen to cotton or corn soon after planting, for which 
purpose sulphate of ammonia has proved admirably adapted. 

It should be borne in mind that sulphate of ammonia supplies nitrogen 
alone, and does not afford either phosphorus or potash. 

Remember: 

100 pounds of sulphate of ammonia contains 203^ pounds of nitrogen. 
To furnish that amount requires about 132 pounds of nitrate of soda, 
290 pounds cottonseed meal, 1,650 pounds ordinary fertilizer, or two 
tons of good stable-manure. 

Amount to Apply 

Generally speaking, an application of 100 pounds per acre may be 
made with profit on any crop that needs nitrogen. Larger amounts, 
say, 200 pounds to 300 pounds, are frequently used where experience 
has shown that the soil and conditions are adapted to its use. 

Lime 

The liberal use of lime at frequent intervals is recognized as one of 
the fundamentals of profitable agriculture. For most farm crops soil 
acidity must be neutralized by lime before the cost of tilling or ferti- 
lizing is justified. Ignorance on this point has caused crop failure 
and loss to many farmers in the past. 

It is doubtless true that continuous heavy applications of sulphate of 
ammonia will ultimately exhaust the lime in the soil. This draw-back 
it shares with other essential fertilizer chemicals and indeed with 
stable-manure and with green manures. As far as this concerns the 
use of commercial fertilizers containing sulphate of ammonia, the 
effect may be regarded as negligible, however. The actual amount 
of sulphate in a 500-pound per acre application would not ordinarily 
exceed 25 pounds. This would be counteracted entirely by 25 pounds 
of ground limestone. 

Some definite information as to how long it may be before harmful 
effects result from continued applications of sulphate, without lime, 
is given by the experiment on a rotation of corn, oats, wheat and grass 



at the Pennsylvania Station (Bulletin 146). In this test 750 pounds 
of a mixture containing 6.5 per cent, nitrogen, 6.5 per cent, phosphoric 
acid and 13.5 per cent, potash was applied every other year, different 
sources of nitrogen being used. 

The total yield from the sulphate of ammonia plots at the end of 
the five-, ten-, fifteen- and twenty-year periods was ahead of any 
other form of nitrogen, both in weight and in value. The increase 
over the check (no treatment) plots, was 41 per cent., though no 
lime was applied during the test. 

This fertilization was a very heavy one, being equivalent in ammonia 
contents to 3,000 pounds of the ordinary "2-8-2" mixture, and in so far 
as the sulphate usually contained in such a mixture, to 6,000 pounds 
every other year. Such amounts are not usual in ordinary farm 
practise, and in market garden and truck districts where they are 
possible, liming is recognized as necessary at much less than twenty- 
vear intervals. 



rTTTTTTTTTTI 



EXPLANATION OF TABLE ON PAGE 23. 

This table has been prepared in order that the prices of sulphate of ammonia, 
nitrate of soda, and cottonseed meal, which are usually quoted per 100 pounds 
or per ton of 2,000 lbs., may be readily compared with those for the organic nitrog- 
enous fertilizers such as dried blood, tankage, fish-scrap, etc., for which prices are 
usually quoted per unit of ammonia — i. e., for each 1 per cent, of ammonia in a ton 
of 2,000 lbs. 

Examples: If a price of $3.10 per unit for dried blood has been quoted, we 
find on the same line of the table the equivalent quotation for sulphate of ammonia 
would be $3,873^ per 100 lbs. If the current quotation for sulphate of ammonia 
were $3.00 per 100 lbs., the difference would represent the saving made by using it. 

If, however, a comparison with cottonseed meal is desired, the price equivalent 
to $3.10 per unit of ammonia is found by the table to be $21.70 per ton for the 7% 
grade, at or below which price the meal must be obtained before it is an economy 
to use it, on the basis of the available nitrogen supplied. The market value of ap- 
proximately 1.5% phosphoric acid and 1% potash, contained in the meal, or more, 
according to guarantee or analysis, should be added to the table value to give the 
total value. 

22 



Table for Sulphate of Ammonia, Nitrate of Soda and Cottonseed Meal. 
Showing Prices by Weight Equivalent to Prices Per Unit of Ammonia. 



Quoted 


Equivalent 


Equivalent 


Equivalent Price 


Price per 


Price of 100 Lbs. 


Price of 100 Lbs. 


of 2000 Lbs. 
COTTONSEED MEAL 


Unit of 






SULPHATE 


Nitrate of Soda. 




Ammonia 


of AMMONIA 


95% Test 


5.8% N 


per ton 


20.56% N 


15.54% N 


7% NH 3 


2000 Lbs. 


25% NH, Test 


18.9% NH, 


Grade 


$2.40 


$3.00 


$2,268 


S16.80 


2.45 


3.062 


2.315 


17.15 


2.50 


3.125 


2.363 


17.50 


2.55 


3.188 


2.41 


17.85 


2.60 


3.25 


2.457 


18.20 


2.65 


3.312 


2.504 


18.55 


2.70 


3.375 


2.552 


18.90 


2.75 


3.438 


2.599 


19.25 


2.80 


3.50 


2.646 


19.60 


2.85 


3.562 


2.693 


19.95 


2.90 


3.625 


2.741 


20.30 


2.95 


3.688 


2.788 


20.65 


3.00 


3.75 


2.835 


21.00 


3.05 


3.812 


2.882 


21.35 


3.10 


3.875 


2.93 


21.70 


3.15 


3.938 


2.977 


22.05 


3.20 


4.00 


3.024 


22.40 


3.25 


4.062 


3.071 


22.75 


3.30 


4.125 


3.119 


23.10 


3.35 


4.188 


3.166 


23.45 


3.40 


4.250 


3.213 


23.80 


3.45 


4.312 


3.26 


24.15 


3.50 


4.375 


3.308 


24.50 


3.55 


4.438 


3.355 


24.85 


3.60 


4.50' 


3.402 


25.20 


3.65 


4.562 


3.440 


25.55 


3.70 . 


4.625 


3.497 


25.90 


3.75 


4.688 


3.544 


26.25 


3.80 


4.75 


3.591 


26.60 


3.85 


4.812 


3.638 


26.95 


3.90 


4.875 


3.686 


27.30 


3.95 


4.938 


3.733 


27.65 


4.00 


5.00 


3.78 


28.00 


4.05 


5.062 


3.827 


28.35 


4.10 


5.125 


3.875 


28.70 


4.15 


5.188 


3.922 


29.05 


4.20 


5.25 


3.969 


29.40 


4.25 


5.312 


4.016 


29.75 


4.30 


5.375 


4.064 


30.10 


4.35 


5.438 


4.11 


30.45 


4.40 


5.50 


4.158 


30.80 


4.45 


5.562 


4.205 


31.15 


4.50 


5.625 


4.253 


31.50 


4.55 


5.688 


4.30 


31.85 


4.60 


5.75 


4.347 


32.20 


4.65 


5.812 


4.394 


32.55 


4.70 


5.875 


4.442 


32.90 


4.75 


5.938 


4.489 


33.25 


4.80 


6.00 


4.536 


33.60 


4.85 


6.062 


4.583 


33.95 


4.90 


6.125 


4.631 


34.30 


4.95 


6.188 


4.678 


34.65 


5.00 


6.25 


4.725 


35.00 


Difference 


$0.0625 


$0.04725 


$00.35 



Add value of phosphoric acid and potash, according to guarantee or analysis, to obtain total 
values. 

23 



Diagram of the Prodvcts Derived from Coal and some of their, vses 



|GasLiqvor] 



[^[^[^^^P^ I^^P^ P^ lasa* I hffl& | |*ssa- 1 1 'ass- 1 E^] lass [ [asr] 

I 1 rtmcLtraO ,— - 



I COKr". I 






TAR. 



I C 



|MCTcoo a] |iA»>^| IliamoMT | [CewBas ] rcIicraSi^l 



LightOil 



J I L 



I Heavy Oil 
I 



J I 



cm 



Pitch 



rrzi 



|Ovi>iOejoucAop| JNEUTCAiOtn I [lAMi>PiAC».[ jctwt Hawimaliw | [cwipc Cawiicaod | ', w °°"""""'" 5r ) |abtm8a(iii0il"| |LampPiack I I Paints | | ^MtjiftiT | pncoamt 1 1 SutfLoociNg | L^gggg^.^q | |!>AvniGtt«ciuAtii 



M 



pssnicski 






rzn 



L e 



LXJ 1 



]l *gj58r ||«aiai i pssasngn t 






c~n 






] |3wPAQPs]|DvcaTvrrs | j HAPHTrfTLAMitt"] I tmosivts 



,£ 



i tYtyvrn ' IfliimnnucAwl I Mwro | 



} &TCSlvrr5~| (CxpuwvZT) 



|PTCSTUrTS I [Ptt STltfft j 



l* T,"W [ l^spaq 



| I | tniivm [ 

|Aut abjn c^earuffs| lAusoLPrcsiuns] 



jOwc&cuzoi j | Pyeidin 1 1 Solvcmt Naphtha] |I1ea>/y Naphtha] |Ceupc(ae&?ucacid I |C«VK TOLUOL 



I insulation I jwyrciwooriNTl j bwiho nuc.»~| [mlWM PITCH I 



[ <tlidm 



pAEA-INp[n I IPARA-t 



|W3tvml(j*vBn ■■ 5S] |Aio8cmpt ; 



rznzzi 



[&Vt5Tvrr5 [ I RtSOHCiN 



[Phtiwi [ 




I RMoycTS I I Paints j ] Roofing j | water pfcoonucj j tlAfcDPlTCH 



|5acch*bi>T] 



[ EKPIOS'VCS : : TOLVtDIN 



frrtsivrrs I [pcpruMcs | | Swac aop | 



T fLR vM[S~| 



(jowMPeNWATt I 



iDawrtCTAHTj I [R^RA-OZsoi] 1 Meta-Crexh. I |Ottrno<«sa 1 



II 



HtM0OU,aBi» ] |HTCK)9yiiioi|[~| I Si/trANmcaci? I |P»tntiHTWAiiii I [AccmaiLip I frJMcnr-iAMiN I [Cimmaiciii. | |Phoiyuxicin"| I 

l . r i ~~i i i,_ ii^g] 

I Amiirm |Pri5Twi | | Iwieo | 



I 6«iayCT5 ~] cent 

(MetalCastinG~) 



Prepared DY 
The (fiaMtft °* 



■MXmK I I ''■■agg' I I TA.Jsr.TS I I Pwofw.-] 



Pitcm Com. 



Legend 



I] DtRJVATIVE. 



"BlAttJ (T50TC£(A!W) j tYESTVW | 



Table for Sulphate of Ammonia, Nitrate of Soda and Cottonseed Meal. 
Showing Prices by Weight Equivalent to Prices Per Unit of Ammonia. 



Quoted 


Equivalent 


Equivalent 


Equivalent Price 


Price per 
Unit of 


Price of 100 Lbs. 


Price of 100 Lbs. 


of 2000 Lbs. 


SULPHATE 


Nitrate of Soda 


COTTONSEED MEAL 






Ammonia 


of AMMONIA 


95% Test 


5.8% N 


per ton 


20.56' c , N 


15.54 '7,. N 


7% NH, 


2000 Lbs. 


25% NH, Test 


18.9% NH, 


Grade 


$2.40 


$3.00 


S2.268 


$16.80 


2.45 


3.062 


2.315 


17.15 


2.50 


3.125 


2.363 


17.50 


2.55 


3.188 


2.41 


17.85 


2.60 


3.25 


2.457 


18.20 


2.65 


3.312 


2.5D4 


18.55 


2.70 


3.375 


2.551 


18.90 


2.75 


3.438 


2.599 


19.25 


2.80 


3.50 


2.646 


19.60 


2.85 


3.562 


2.693 


19.95 


2.90 


3.625 


2.741 


20.30 


2.95 


3.688 


2.788 


20.65 


3.00 


3.75 


2.835 


21.00 


3.05 


3.812 


2.882 


21.35 


3.10 


3.875 


2.93 


21.70 


3.15 


3.938 


2.977 


22.05 


3.20 


4.00 


3.024 


22.40 


3.25 


4.062 


3.071 


22.75 


3.30 


4.125 


3.119 


23.10 


3.35 


4.188 


3.166 


23.45 


3.40 


4.250 


3.213 


23.80 


3.45 


4.312 


3.26 


24.15 


3.50 


4.375 


3.308 


24.50 


3.55 


4.438 


3.355 


24.85 


3.60 


4.50' 


3.402 


25.20 


3.65 


4.562 


3.449 


25.55 


3.70 


4.625 


3.497 


25.90 


3.75 


4.688 


3.544 


26.25 


3.80 


4.75 


3.591 


26.60 


3.85 


4.812 


3.638 


26.95 


3.90 


4.875 


3.686 


27.30 


3.95 


4.938 


3.733 


27.65 


4.00 


5.00 


3.78 


28.00 


4.05 


5.062 


3.827 


28.35 


4.10 


5.125 


3.875 


28.70 


4.15 


5.188 


3.922 


29.05 


4.20 


5.25 


3.969 


29.40 


4.25 


5.312 


4.016 


29.75 


4.30 


5.375 


4.064 


30.10 


4.35 


5.438 


4.11 


30.45 


4.40 


5.50 


4.158 


30.80 


4.45 


5.562 


4.205 


31.15 


4.50 


5.625 


4.253 


31.50 


4.55 


5.688 


4.30 


31.85 


4.60 


5.75 


4.347 


32.20 


4.65 


5.812 


4.394 


32.55 


4.70 


5.875 


4.442 


32.90 


4.75 


5.938 


4.489 


33.25 


4.80 


6.00 


4.536 


33.60 


4.85 


6.062 


4.583 


33.95 


4.90 


6.125 


4.631 


34.30 


4.95 6.188 


4.678 


34.65 


5.00 6.25 
Difference $0.0625 


4.725 
S0.04725 


35.00 
$00.35 


Add value of pho 
values. 


sphoric acid and pota 


sh, according to guarantee 


)r analysis, to obtain total 




.. ■■■ mmmmm 



